Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu – Movie Review
Star Wars fans having to wait many years for a cinematic outing isn’t anything new. Despite their being 7 years between the release of The Mandalorian and Grogu and The Rise of Skywalker, it doesn’t hold a candle to the 16 year wait between Return of the Jedi and The Phantom Menace, or the 10 year wait between Revenge of the Sith and the first Disney-led outing in The Force Awakens (but only 7 years if you include the animated film version of The Clone Wars). But, what distinctly sticks out about the wait for this latest Star Wars outing, is that there has been a plethora of Star Wars content rolled out on Disney+, The Mandalorian arguably being the most beloved and successful. But, The Mandalorian and Grogu, the cinematic continuation of the streaming series story, does very little to justify breaking the containment of the streaming world, resulting in a dull film that may have served better on Disney+.
Picking up after the events of The Mandalorian season three, Din Djarin (better known as the titular bounty hunter, the Mandalorian, voiced by Pedro Pascal) and his force sensitive companion, Grogu are tasked by the New Republic to find information about a high-up commander for the Empire who is still on the run after the destruction of the Death Star and death of Lord Vader and Emperor Palpatine. The Mandalorian and Grogu’s investigations take them to two Hutt’s who are the twin cousins of Jabba, who will provide the information about this criminal commander for something in return – the supposed rescue of their nephew, and Jabba’s son, Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White). However, as the plan to rescue Rotta reveals a new danger, Mandalorian and Grogu descend into a dark, galactic underworld.
For better and worse, The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like the show. The connection between the titular characters has been explored well enough in the show, and the fun dynamic between them is truly at the heart of this film. Mando is still stoic, but it’s obvious that his time with Grogu has softened him up to be a guardian figure in his life. And Grogu does an immense amount of hilariously cute things throughout the film – a staple of the Star Wars universe being cute creatures just being goofy.
Pascal, who is only seen once in an extended scene with the helmet off (with Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder rightfully credited as the in-suit performers), is completely fine as Mando, a character who you can tell through his voice performance is someone he can perform with ease. Jeremy Allen White doesn’t necessarily do anything outstanding as Rotta, despite some heartfelt monologues about wanting to distance himself from the crime ridden reputation of his late father. Sigourney Weaver is a cameo… and that’s about it. And the most surprising and notable performance is Martin Scorsese, who has two scenes as a street food vendor, neurotically trying to not overstep boundaries by giving Mando information. Notable, for sure. Distracting, more so. But, it’s not the performances that standout as the most lacklustre element of the film.
The story suffers most with its structure and pacing. The film feels like episodes of the show stitched together and shown on a movie screen, so rather than flowing like a feature film length story, the pacing ebbs and flows awkwardly with climatic moments that feel like the end of the story occurring halfway through the film, or certain characters and plot points dragging out far too long. Unfortunately, the result of this odd pacing is a film that really feels like it’s outstayed it’s welcome by the third act, slowly plodding to a finale that is quite underwhelming compared to what has come before it – both action and story wise.
What makes The Mandalorian and Grogu feel worthy of the big screen are the action scenes and Ludwig Goransson’s absolutely phenomenal score – two elements that are often working in tandem with each other for a wonderfully exciting cinematic experience. The action, which varies from Western-style shootouts, gladiatorial monster battles, a Rancor pitt homage, and thrilling X-Wing aerial combat, is expertly shot by director Jon Favreau, who also utilises an “IMAX” approach, even if you’re not viewing the film in the IMAX format. The screen expands from a widescreen ratio, to a full screen, immersive experience for the action scenes, and the scale and spectacle of those moments are truly felt. And while this is action that has already been seen and used in the show, it still lends itself to the cinematic feeling the film is trying to achieve. Goransson’s score, another highlight of the show, is flawless. A hybrid of Western and techno pulses through the speakers, sounding like a unique and interesting evolution of the Star Wars sound scape.
It is just a pity that despite working on all of the technical levels, the story and characters of this film are just incredibly dull. The Mandalorian began on Disney+ as this fun evolution of Star Wars, and even as those seasons went on, it became something that lost its identity to fan service instead of story. Unfortunately, the film doesn’t do anything to change that, and doesn’t hold much positivity into what the future of Star Wars looks like at the movies.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is in Australian cinemas May 21
